Roy Benson

For the submarine commander, see Roy S. Benson.

Roy Benson
Born
Edward Emerson Ford McQuaid

(1914-01-17)17 January 1914
Courbevoie, Seine, France
Died6 December 1977(1977-12-06) (aged 63)
Forest Hills, New York USA
OccupationMagician
Parent(s)Dora Ford
Edward Emerson McQuaid

Roy Benson (17 January 1914 – 6 December 1977) was a stage magician born in Courbevoie in France. He was an accomplished musician. He is credited for Special Effects, having created the monster for the film The Flesh Eaters (1964) [1] directed by his first cousin,[2] Jack Curtis. He died of emphysema.[3]

Magic career

He studied with Nate Leipzig, creating the bell and bowl routine and elaborating the Chinese Sticks routine which is published in "Benson by Starlight".[4] This also describes Benson's Bizarre Bag (an egg bag variant), The Dice Box, Bell and Bowl (rice bowls), The Wines of Beelzebub and Hydrostatic Cravis (where a drinking glass is inverted without the contents spilling).

Benson performed with his wife, Connie, who was a dancer and contortionist.[5]: 266 

A photograph of Benson, signed and dedicated "To Dai [Vernon], Jeanne, Neepie in admiration and affection, Roy. 1946." was auctioned in January 2010.[6]

Publications

  • Benson by Starlight. Published by Miracle Factory 2006 (Levent, Todd Carr). ISBN 0-9710405-4-0. ISBN 978-0-9710405-4-0)[4]
  • The Second Oldest Profession (republished within "Starlight")
  • Benson on Magic (republished within "Starlight")

Chinese Sticks

(Also called Mora Wands after Silent Mora - Louis McCord[7]).[8] The method for the Chinese Sticks as well as a number of routines by magicians including Howard Hale, Aldo Colomini, Pete Biro, Joe Stevens and Charlie Miller is presented in the DVD "Chinese Sticks" published by Greater Magic Video Library.[9]

Benson elaborated his Chinese Sticks in "Starlight"[4] on The Pillars of Soloman and the Magic Bradawl, published in Hoffman's Modern Magic.[10]

Benson Bowl

The Benson Bowl is a Cups and Ball routine popularised by Benson.[11] The method and routine is published in "Starlight"[4] and "Classic Secrets of Magic" by Bruce Elliott.[12] The routine is included in the DVDs "Pat Page Spongeballs",[13] "WGM Spongeballs",[14] "John Mendoza Vol 2",[15] "Steve Dacri Volume 3".[14]

References

  1. ^ "The Flesh Eaters (1964) - IMDb" – via www.imdb.com.
  2. ^ "Roy Benson". IMDb.
  3. ^ "Roy Benson". Genii, The Conjurors' Magazine.
  4. ^ a b c d "Roy Benson by Starlight - $150.00 : The Miracle Factory, www.miraclefactory.net". miraclefactory.net. Archived from the original on 23 October 2010.
  5. ^ Randi, James (1992). Conjuring. New York: St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0-312-08634-2. OCLC 26162991.
  6. ^ "Portrait of Roy Benson". LiveAuctioneers. 14 July 2022. Retrieved 27 March 2024.
  7. ^ Portrait conjuringlights.com [dead link‍]
  8. ^ "Account".
  9. ^ Chinese Sticks DVD gmvl.com [dead link‍]
  10. ^ Hoffman's Modern Magic p. 330 (1876)
  11. ^ "Account".
  12. ^ Classic Secrets of Magic: Amazon.co.uk: Bruce Elliot: 9781406793901: Books. ASIN 1406793906.
  13. ^ Product llpub.com [dead link‍]
  14. ^ a b Product llpub.com [dead link‍]
  15. ^ Product llpub.com [dead link‍]